ChinaSMACK is a treasure. It provides such a useful complement (and counterbalance) to mainstream China news, precisely because it isn’t news at all. Instead, it’s a cross-section of the stuff that’s criss-crossing Chinese web browsers right now. It’s weird and funny and meme-y. Sometimes it’s gross and depressing. But it’s always revelatory.

Importantly, chinaSMACK filters and translates not just Chinese internet content, but also the comments on that content. For instance, here are some comments on that video above:

There are at least two things worth noting, right? One is obvious: the use of “harmonized.” It’s funny how it manages to imply punishment, censorship and smoothing-over, all at once. The other is subtler: louzhu. It’s a generic term for “the person who made the first/original post or started a BBS topic”—sort of an internet-specific honorific. I like it.